Research & Development

A unique feature of the building is the illuminated box underneath the lobby’s monumental staircase—the box serves as cane detection, in lieu of railings, in order to meet ADA standards. Another interesting feature to the building is the addition of pinup space on upper floors, to allow occupants to pin things to the walls. The areas also serve as a natural space for meetings and discussion.

Another concern for the designers was to create a space so that people can work anywhere. Technology allows researchers to move outside the office and the laboratory; therefore, in addition to the busy central hub space, quite zones were also installed to give building occupants choices of where to go. This is especially important as the next generation enters the healthcare workforce.

Houston is a huge medical hub, and home to dozens of hospitals and research buildings. Therefore, the architects and designers wanted to make the Zayed building stand out.

“It has the benefit of being located on a
corner site so you have exterior exposure
from two sides. The buildings that surround
it are not quite as tall so it has the benefit of
standing up taller,” said Harper. “Because of
the intersection of the street there is more
green open space, so this building really
stands out as a beacon. It’s pretty effective
how many vision corridors there are to this
building on a pretty cramped site.”
“A lot of the existing older labs on campus
are a little more closed in,” said Harper.
“This one really displays the function of the
building to the exterior. At night when the
MD Anderson, and the designers and
architects of the Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed
Al Nahyan Building, are optimistic for the
future—they are already planning to fit-out
the building for other purposes once cancer
is eradicated.

— MaryBeth DiDonna Editor, Laboratory Design www.labdesignnews.com

MD Anderson’s Zayed Building for Personalized Cancer Care is designed to fundamentally change the way research is done at MD Anderson—it’s equally as bold as their mission “to make cancer history.” (Credit: Mark Herboth Photography).